French President Emmanuel Macron (center), Cyprus' Nikos Christodoulides (right) and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis leave after a multilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on, March 28, 2025. [Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP]
Work on the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection is expected to resume within two months – and, in any case, before the end of the year – with the timetable agreed at the highest political level through contacts among Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, French President Emmanuel Macron and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
The project, alongside legislation linked to Ankara’s “Blue Homeland” doctrine, is described as one of the two major tests for Greek-Turkish relations. While the political framework for restarting survey work has been settled, attention has now shifted to operational preparations.
The French president does not appear concerned about possible reactions from Ankara. The Turkish position effectively calls for a request to be submitted for surveys in areas covered by the illegal Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum.
France’s role is seen as crucial to the project’s completion, although it is not clear how Paris intends to proceed. One possibility is behind-the-scenes coordination with Ankara; another is that Turkish intentions could be tested directly through developments on the ground.
